University Crest Apartments - Near UCR

I lived at University Crest for two years (2015-2017) in a two bedroom apartment with one roommate. We were the first to live in this newly renovated unit.

PROS
SAFETY Feels very safe and secure (except when the gates are broken). Close to campus police department.
PROXIMITY TO CAMPUS Easy to walk to most popular parts of campus.
Front Desk Staff - All employees are friendly.

CONS
FRONT DESK HOURS Posted hours are 9am-5pm Monday through Friday, actual hours are closer to 10am-3pm Monday… through Thursday.

MAIL Mail is collected and sorted by the front desk. Non-USPS delivers to your door, other packages are held at the front desk. Since the front office hours are during a normal working day, it is difficult to get packages.

FRONT GATE Car gate completely breaks 2-3 times per year for 2-3 weeks each time. You can always get in and out, but considering you are paying to live in a gated community, I found it unacceptable. Pedestrian gate is broken about 50% of the year.

CEILING LEAK The ceiling leaked through a vent from the upstairs unit for 6 weeks. The leak occurred any time the upstairs unit used their heat. We were unable to use our heat because the area sparked when we turned ours on. UC acknowledged the problem, but the pipes are so old that they have to be custom made, and only one manufacturer makes them. The part needed was on backorder and they have “no idea” when they will be made again. The leak was never resolved, it just got warm enough that the upstairs unit no longer needs to use the heat.

RAT We had a rat and UC did not care. They put out one mouse trap (too small to catch what was clearly a rat), and did not reply to additional maintenance requests or calls. We had to call our own exterminator ($350 ) who took care of the problem in one afternoon.

SHOWER MOLD We had mold in our shower coming from the bathroom above our unit. It took maintenance 4 weeks to come by, and when they just painted over it. Mold grew back within the week. It took daily calls and visits to the front desk to have the problem fully addressed, nearly 2 months after the initial maintenance request. I had enough time to send the mold to lab for testing before the complex addressed the problem.

TOWING My car has been towed from a parking place assigned to me twice. The towing company comes by every night and tows any car without a permit. Hope your permit never falls down, it’s $300 to get your car back! Read More

This is the worst place to live you could possibly choose. If you can think of it, this place has it: ants, roaches, gnats, mosquitoes, horrible neighbors, crime (my front door got kicked in!), uncaring managers, everything.

I'll try to say what happened in chronological order. First: When I signed up this place was well kept, pretty pond with fish and turtles, but halfway through my year contract they let it dry up and become a swamp. Soon after I was killing gnats and mosquitoes in my… apartment daily.

Second: Upstairs neighbors begin throwing organic waste in my porch area. They threw raw eggs, various vegetables, a melon, and crumbled sushi sea weed everywhere. I had no choice but to clean it up since I have a dog, and she would try to eat it all.

Third: This place also is extremely slow with maintenance, and they do the bare minimum to fix whatever is broken. The security gate is near the entrance of my apartment, and was broken. It had been broken wide open for about 5 days. While I was in the living room with my girlfriend and dog, some dudes, probably in their teens, kicked my door in. Once they realized we were home they ran off. Say goodbye to your peace of mind.

Fourth: Put in a maintenance request about my fire alarm beeping periodically all day, they say they "fixed" it while I wasn't home. It was still beeping, so I take it off the wall to fix it myself, and ANTS EVERYWHERE. They poured out of the wall, like literally hundreds. Thank god I had Raid spray. Absolutely disgusting. Oh that reminds me of the time that I saw some cockroaches on my stove...

Anyways, DO NOT LIVE HERE! Read More

Prior to moving in, they did fool me with the scenery of pretty pictures, and the low price of $340 thinking that's what I was going to be paying for my room, not per bed. The apartments renovations are cheaply done, the walls are supper thin and you can never get any privacy with noise. Whether its outside or the room next door, no matter how low the noise may be, you hear EVERYTHING that goes on around you. It was also annoying how almost every weekend, the water had to be shut off for… whatever reason. I would think that after the 5th time of my water being shut of that the issue with the pipes would be fixed, but no. Their website also promises your kitchen to have new appliances but that wasn't so. The leasing office didn't seem that nice or helpful when it came to me asking questions about my lease or needing a service to be done. Before coming and moving here to UCR, if I would have known the low and cheap quality of this place, I would have looked elsewhere. Read More

Apartment is a 1 bed 1 bath town home. We live on the second floor so we have nice vaulted ceilings which makes it feel like it is larger than it is. Great lighting and a large patio with storage closet. Our extra holiday decorations and clothes get stored out there for space. Brand new appliances, Internet included. The staff is extremely helpful if there is ever a problem, and it's great being able to pay rent online!! Makes it way easier!
It's more expensive than I'm used to, but compared to… other places it's great! And I can easily walk to campus. Pet friendly and they even host monthly community events for residents. Read More